The Higher Tempo Press
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The top four prospects in the Ajax youth system
The fact that the youth academy at Ajax Amsterdam (Ajax) is named De Toekomst is indicative of the ethos that the club is build around. De Toekomst translates to English as The Future. Ajax have a reputation around the world as perhaps the premier developers of young talent, the list of players that have come […]
Proper Football Men: Come Hull Or High Water
This is the second FM17 experiment I have written for Tempo, if you’d like to see the other please click my author name FMAdventure above – here you will also find any other pieces I have written for Tempo and links to my social media pages. ======= Anyone who watches Gillette Soccer Saturday will be […]
Managing upwards as well as downwards 3.1
So here’s a good way to fill the gap between my second season in charge of Hapoel Ashkelon FC and the next – announce a loss. Not just a small loss, either: one that equates to about 20% of turnover. This, despite my efforts. I wrote, when the board set the budget for last year, […]
Dundee United March On 2.3
It’s episode 3 of the new season and the atmosphere at Tannadice could not be better. We’ve just beaten our city rivals Dundee 4-0, and in the final days of the transfer window signed Hibernian striker Jason Cummings after he won our second poll of the series. Now, we move onto a match against another […]
Nothing Compares 2 EU
Well, that’s it – the season is over. It’s time to put away your Paddy Power app for the summer (other betting companies are available), kiss the missus goodbye, and get ready for another “ladz” holiday in Ayia Napa. Don’t let the fact that you’re 34 year old project manager with a receding hairline ruin […]
Totally Rad
Zdravo and welcome to Belgrade, capital city of Serbia, where I have been appointed the new boss of FK Rad Beograd, Rad for short. Rad are one of the most successful clubs in Serbia but have been experiencing something of a dip in form in recent years, experiencing relegation twice since the start of the […]
The Islanders XXI
OSU! Calm yourself, this is not another standard update on how things are going. Oh no. Following a chat with the Tempo writers in our Slack channel last night, I have been doing some thinking which has led to me garbling my thoughts down on “paper”. I admitted to the guys that The Islanders was […]
Rising Through The Ranks
Welcome to a brand new FM17 save, where I shall be challenging myself to ‘rise through the ranks’ of the Holland national teams, this means that I will begin my career with the Dutch under nineteen’s and aiming to progress to the under twenty-one’s and finally end up with the senior squad. Zeist, the home […]
Rooney vs Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku broke Everton hearts this week when it was revealed that he currently has no desire to extend his stay at the Toffees despite having a contract that still has two years to run. As such the rumour mill began to grind out potential destinations for the Belgian striker – one such club was […]
How to Press in 3 different ways on FM17
Pressing has been a part of football for a long time now but especially in England it wasn’t a big topic of conversation before managers like Klopp, Pochettino or Guardiola arrived. I present you three ways you can go about creating a Pressing System in FM17. There are probably more options but I opted for […]
County Pressing
Guess what rhymes with ‘counter’ yah you heard it here first- ‘county’. So this started off in the #tempowriters channel of FM Slack and all the writers there were curious about how Klopp would fare at Notts County just because County sounded something like Counter so grab a coffee and read on. It’s amazing how […]
Finding Mandžukić, a Brief Guide to the Wide Target Man
The 2014 version of Football Manager was a little revolution in terms of possibilities offered for teams’ tactical set-up. Eight new roles were introduced. While FM users explored to the fullest the new horizons open by the False 9, the Shadow Striker or the Complete Wing-Back, very few dared to look into the opportunities offered […]
The Kosovo Journey 2019 Pt. 1
January The UEFA U21 Championship Qualifier Groups were drawn. We’ll expect to finish above Faroe Islands and possibly also push Finland for what we expect will be 4th place. The latest World Rankings have landed and we’ve dropped another place. February The latest World Rankings give no change for our position. March The latest Rankings […]
What would happen if all the top six had N’Golo Kante?
What if N’Golo Kante played for all Premier League teams in the top six? Heralded as the lynchpin in the heart of Chelsea’s midfield, N’Golo Kante has been at the forefront of the club’s resurgence. After a dismal campaign in 2015/16 that saw the Blues finish 10th in the Premier League, the Frenchman has proven […]
Beating Expectations
I know that I have been gushing through the seasons here at Wellington but that’s how I have been enjoying my football. Last time out I spoke about our good run in the league which did result in us finishing in 7th, this time it’s a much bigger achievement. Transfers The transfers this season weren’t as many […]
Making sense of data and players’ injury records
In a post (17 Jan 2017) on my Hapoel Ashkelon save I outlined my fitness policy. My thinking is that being at or near the bottom of the injury table makes it easier to finish at or near the top of the league table. I described one of my fitness principles as follows: ‘Avoid acquiring […]
Following Aitor Karanka’s sacking would Nigel Pearson, Guus Hiddink or Steve Agnew be the best Middlesbrough manager?
News broke this morning that Aitor Karanka had been relieved of his position as Middlesbrough’s head coach. Without a league win since December, Boro find themselves languishing 19th with 11 games left to play. Steve Agnew has temporarily been placed in charge, with himself, Nigel Pearson or Guus Hiddink being viewed as the bookies’ favourites […]
What Happened Brex’t…
… Ahem. Last time, we covered pre-season, our quest to qualify for the Champions League Group Stage, and our activity in the transfer market. A lot has happened since then, and this time I want to update you on how we have fared domestically and in Europe, and how the young British talent drafted into […]
The Islanders XX
OSU! Remember me? I’m that guy over on the Island. Yeah, Japan. That’s right. Been a while, hasn’t it? Last we spoke we had just finished our first season in the J1 and it had gone quite well. Then life got in the way, and “work”, if you can ever call dicking about writing about […]
End of second season 2.17
In my second season in charge of Hapoel Ashkelon FC, we finished in the same position (6th) as last season, with exactly the same number of points (number). Since the target set by the board was again to ‘fight bravely against relegation’, I guess that can be judged a success. But does it also mean […]
To Dare Is To Do #2
Tottenham Hotspur FC | To Dare Is To Do | #2 – Bridge Too Far ??? | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to a brand new series to the channel, Tottenham Hotspur To Dare Is To Do. In today’s episode we take a look our results so far, the new additions to the squad […]
Malcom
Welcome to the Player Profile of Malcom, who plays for Girondins de Bordeaux in France. Malcom is a young Brazilian winger which has the potential to be a quality player in the future. But what level will he actually reach? Will it be top level or will it be just below that? In this player review […]
Wellington Second Season Syndrome
Last time out it was the end of the first full season at Wellington Phoenix at here it will be about the second season at Wellington. As always it will be the same routine of transfers, competition reviews and a look at the squad. Transfers This season we did have a bit more money to […]
Magyar adventure 2.16
Each season, after each team has played each other twice, the Israeli Premier League divides into two. The top six compete in a mini-league to decide who qualifies for Europe. In my second season with Hapoel Ashkelon FC, as in the first season, we made the top six. And, again as last year, we then […]
A Kolnoscopy Challenge 5:2
A Kolnoscopy Challenge The Bundesliga Tale: Season 5: 2 Extract from the Managers diary: ‘A dark room with mahogany features, dim lighting and leather furniture could mean only one thing…therapy. At the age of thirty I’m contemplating my life, my work and my future. Expressing my doubts, my anxieties and my failings. ‘I left Scotland […]
The First Transfer Window
Brexit Means Brexit: Pre-Season & Champions League Qualifiers After an idealistic manager took charge of the best team in Scotland and vowed to adhere strictly to the rules of a hard Brexit, what happened next? In my last post, I introduced myself and gave you a brief overview of what I wanted to achieve. This […]
To Dare Is To Do #1
Tottenham Hotspur FC | To Dare Is To Do | #1 – Meet The Team | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to a brand new series to the channel, Tottenham Hotspur To Dare Is To Do. In today’s 1st episode we take a look at some of the players, fixtures, tactics and staff ahead […]
Venceremos 2.15
Interesting how writing a blog changes your perception. Having explained in recent posts that Hapoel Ashkelon FC are in a mini-league for European qualification but have no realistic chance of qualifying, I found myself writing that we had ‘nothing to lose’. Writing that brought the fact home to me. It made me think, apart from […]
Episode 19, FM’s biggest scouting network?
Now with the addition of Coca Cola Sunderland and having had a season to shape the back-room it’s time for an overhaul of our scouting system. Last season we relied on the scouting network we already had in place, but now it’s time to refine our scouting system. To start with we need to know […]
Beyond the Stats
The Irish & the Intangibles To follow me on social media, check out my profile at the end of this post and to see what else I have written click on my name. Football Manager is the most realistic simulation of football that we can immerse ourselves in. While FIFA is beginning to seem more […]
August, Season Two
Since I’ve arrived here in the Ukraine 13 months ago, I think I’ve settled in ok: my apartment now has running water, we’ve had some success on the field and the chairman and I usually see eye to eye. Since our start to the season has been excellent, I was looking forward to reading the […]
Israeli Goulash 2.14
As I detailed in my previous post, Hapoel Ashkelon’s season has fallen apart – 8 points out of 27. I was seriously worried that, when the Israeli Premier League split into two mini-leagues after 26 matches, we wouldn’t make the cut. And then, if we went into freefall, we could even go down. But we […]
Did we get him?! 2.2
There’s no better feeling than the first day of the season, especially when your club is in the top tier. It’s the last Saturday of July and all around Dundee fans are optimistic. They’ve seen their side promoted under new manager The Back Page. They’ve seen new arrivals and old heads perform to levels they […]
An Introduction to Brexit Means Brexit
This is the first post in the brand new story of a football club trying to adapt to the changing face of Great Britain… Introduction So, where do I begin? I guess the obvious and most sensible thing to do would be to give you a little bit of information about me and my Football […]
3 Millwall players FM thinks may cause Spurs problems in the FA Cup
Millwall like to knock out Premier League teams. They beat Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester on their way to the last ever cup match to be played at White Hart Lane. Let us take a look at some players who could be vital for the League One team as they try to book a trip to Wembley: […]
A Tactical Crusade – Farewell
It is a sad time in my life, standing at the door of my hotel room after my sacking at Hull City, the cackling of my Judas like assistant still ringing in my ear and a tear streaming down my cheek. I face a conundrum of what to do next in my managerial career, do […]
End of First Season at Wellington
Last time out I discussed our progress midway through the season which was rather different to how I actually approached things. So this time out I will cover the rest of the games which were left in the league as we were already out of the FFA Cup. January Transfers This is a very peculiar […]
Gonna have some fun 2.13
I mentioned in my previous post, the Israeli Premier League splits in two after 26 matches. Because we made the cut, we’re now safe from relegation. Supposedly, because we’re now in a mini-league consisting of the top six teams, we’re now in with a chance of qualifying for Europe – the top three (or, if […]
A Guide to the Poacher
The Poacher is a peculiar role. Everyone has probably used it at some point in their FM career but apart from the good old “Little N Large” combo, there isn’t much most FM players can tell you about that role. I have used it to some success in a couple of saves and I want […]
A Financial Crunch
Last post was about the introduction to Wellington Phoenix this time I’m showing my progress through the 6months I have been incharge. I won’t lie it has been a tight scenario and one that I’m wanting to get out of ASAP. This might be a shorter update then the usual so do stick around. Finances As you […]
8 FM17 challenges you must try but may not complete
FM17 has been out for some time now, long enough for your side saves to become stale and to have tried every regular challenge there is. The Pentagon Challenge, the Alphabet Challenge, even the class of ‘92 challenge have all been attempted. But what can you do next? From talking with some of my fellow […]
Decapitation 2.12
Pedro Galván is an important player for several reasons. Attacking midfielder (central; set-piece taker (corners and free kicks); and captain. But he’s on the wane. He’ll struggle to get through this season and certainly won’t be up to the next. Time to do something. I doubted that I could find one player to replace him […]
The Kosovo Journey 2018 Pt. 2
To catch up on more of my articles on The Higher Tempo Press click on the author name (FMAdventure) above, here you can also find links to my Twitter and personal FM blog. ===== After discussions around the big round table at Tempo Towers I have developed a new strategy for Kosovo. We will follow […]
Blades of Glory 26
Sheffield United | Blades of Glory #26 | The End| Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to Episode 26 of my Sheffield United FM17 save. Today we take on the Blackburn Rovers in a another six pointer at the bottom of the Championship. Can we pick up a win today and survive in the Championship […]
Continuity HAFC 2.11
Hapoel Ashkelon FC spent the autumn in the top three. Regardless of what happens over the rest of the season, it’s evident that my worry that I’d disrupted the squad excessively by bringing in so many new players was baseless. We’d displayed none of the raggedness and tetchiness, let alone disarray, one that might have […]
A Tactical Crusade Episode 7
You know that sinking feeling you get when things just aren’t as good as they seem? Well I got that feeling twice this week, firstly when I got an e-mail from a Nigerian prince offering me untold fortunes, only for my bank account to be drained. The second was when this happened. I thought being […]
Kuki
Malaga’s Kuki is one of the hottest and cheapest strikers on FM17 this season and even at the start of the game looks decent already for such a young player. But how good will he become? What kind of striker is he? These are questions we had too! This video we will be your guide […]
Second-season things 2.10
It’s been a mixed start to my second season in charge of Hapoel Ashkelon FC. We played badly in the Toto Cup and failed to get out of the group, losing three matches. But early October finds us second in the league, unbeaten in five. We’re grinding out results, rather than playing free-flowing football, but […]
Episode 18 Part 4
Transfers: Plenty of out-going transfers give us plenty of money to mould the squad in an attempt to go up at the first time of asking (although we’ll still be in good shape if we fail to go up this season, and should certainly go up next season) Alfred N’Diaye: If you think this doesn’t look […]
Blades of Glory 25
Sheffield United | Blades of Glory #25 | Revenge Mission | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to Episode 25 of my Sheffield United FM17 save. Today we take on the MK Dons in a another six pointer at the bottom of the Championship. Can we pick up a win today and survive in the […]